Learning disabled get money, but not always help

June 13, 2014|By Dan Sweeney, Sun Sentinel

Florida spent $8.5 million in taxpayer money last year to provide vouchers to learning disabled students in Palm Beach County to attend private schools – but makes no effort to ensure the schools are providing the required services.

The law that created the vouchers does not require private schools to have anyone on staff withany sort of certification in dealing with children with learning disabilities. Nor are there public controls in place to check whether the schools are helping them.

In Palm Beach County, 1,232 children receive vouchers -- ranging from $4,125 to $19,829 per child -- depending on on the severity of their disabilities.

There are 59 private schoolsin the countythat accept the vouchers — and at least 28 of them don't have full-time special education teachers, nor are they required to.

"If someone wants to pay for a school that has no standards out of their own pocket, they're free to do that. This is America," said Kathleen Oropeza, co-founder of Fund Education Now, an organization that advocates for public education in the state of Florida. "But when you're taking public dollars and you're putting them into these private schools that are not regulated and have no obligation to meet the same standards that we impose on our public schools, that's when the public should become concerned."

The school district provides special education for all elementary students, and has two public schools — Royal Palm and Indian Ridge — and eight charter schools designated for special ed students at all grade levels.

Those centers "have more personnel to help children," said district spokeswoman Natalia Powers. "Children simply go to the [special ed] center that borders their school."

The other option is private school. And that's where the vouchers, known as McKay scholarships, come in.

The voucher law only requires that private school teachers pass a background check and have a bachelor's degree and three years of teaching experience or "special skills, knowledge, or expertise that qualifies them to provide instruction in subjects taught."

There is no limit on how many students can receive the McKay scholarship — it is solely based on need.

To qualify, children need to be on a school district's Individual Education Plan, which sets educational goals for a child and allows for specialized instruction.

But "once the family leaves the district on a McKay scholarship to a private school, the [plan] is no longer valid. Private schools are not required to follow the [plan] created by district personnel," said Cheryl Etters, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Education.

And nobody from the state or district checks to see if the children's' needs are being met.

"If a parent of an eligible special needs student is unhappy with a private school… they may choose to transfer the student to another participating private school or a public school," Etters said.

Fourteen of the 59 private schools in the county that accept McKay vouchers are dedicated totally to students with learning disabilities. Another 14 have a full-time special ed teacher on staff and specific programs dedicated to students with learning disabilities.

But at least 28 private schools that take vouchers do not offer a full-time special ed teacher, and in many cases, not even a tutor to help students in need. Three schools that take vouchers did not return calls for comment on their staffing.

Bob Nave, the director of the Center for Educational Performance and Accountability at Florida TaxWatch, a taxpayer oversight group, said that accountability in private schools should fall on the parents of children with special needs. "If I'm a parent with a child who was eligible for the McKay scholarship and had special needs, and I was looking to send my child to a private school, if I sent my child to a school that did not have an ESE teacher or staff, then shame on me," he said. "Shame on that parent."

Many of the private schools without specialized instructors are extremely small, so teachers can focus on individual students across the board, educators say. Some students thrive in such situations, especially if their disability isn't profound, or problematic to a classroom environment.

Still, many of the private schools only take students who can participate in a regular classroom, and even those that specialize in learning disabilities can expel children who act out. And, unlike public school, with no state oversight, there is no recourse.

"If there's not oversight and the kids are not getting the education they deserve, it's a tragedy," Oropeza said. "These are some of our most fragile students and they deserve proper education and support. It would be criminal if they're not getting it."